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Excellent news for Nintendo fans, Mario completists, video game historians, and casual Wii owners desperately in the need of some proper games. The Wii is getting a special edition of Super Mario All-Stars (ie. the SNES compilation of Super Mario Bros. 1 - 3, including both the Japanese and US versions of SMB2. ie. a gift from God), and yikes, does it sound a lot more special than the average special edition.
Super Mario Collection Special Pack, as Japanese release schedules currently have it slated, includes a Wii version of Super Mario All-Stars, along with a commemorative booklet and a CD of soundtracks spanning the whole length of the series. Are we excited? Yes we bloody are. While I already have the original All-Stars on a Super NES cartridge, the extras sound worth the price of admission alone.
Above: Sorry, New Super Mario Bros., but you're nowhere near as good as Super Mario Bros. 3
Apparently the booklet covers the history of the series from 1985 - 2010, and includes a slab of previously unreleased development notes and materials. The CD holds a barrage of blissful Koji Kondo tunes from the original Super Mario Bros. right up to Super Mario Galaxy 2. There's absolutely no series more important to me than the Mario games, so I'll be getting hold of this even if I have to kill a man. Or several. I have no doubt that Super Mario World's swimming themes could quite easily take the edge off a long prison sentence.
The necessity of my murder spree is currently in the balance though, as so far the special edition is only confirmed for Japan, with a release date of October the 21st. But with Nintendo making a big swing back to proper Nintendo, and in the UK at least, its current ad campaign playing up the plumber's history to a heavy degree, I'd be very surprised if it didn't make an appearance in the west before long. After all, All-Stars is nowhere near the Virtual Console, unless you count the availability of the NES originals as separate purchases, so a special celebratory edition would be more than justified.
I've e-mailed NIntendo for western release details, but I haven't heard anything back yet. As soon as I do, I'll let you know.
C'mon, Nintendo. C'mooooooooooooooooon.
Thanks, Nintendo World Report
